Sierra Leone has passed 11 of the 22 indicators on the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) FY2027 scorecard, an improvement on the nine indicators achieved in the previous assessment, according to a government press release issued on 6 November 2026.
The latest results also show that the country has met the MCC’s mandatory requirements on Personal Freedom and Control of Corruption, two key governance benchmarks used in determining eligibility for the US government’s development assistance programmes.
The government attributed the improved performance to ongoing reforms under President Julius Maada Bio, particularly efforts to strengthen governance, stabilise the economy and improve the country’s investment climate.
The FY2027 assessment comes after the MCC expanded its scorecard from 20 to 22 indicators, introducing additional measures across economic freedom, investment in people and governance. The government said Sierra Leone’s improved performance reflected progress under the revised assessment framework.
Among the notable gains were passes in two newly introduced areas: inflation and business start-up. The inflation figure used in the assessment fell from more than 28 per cent to 7.6 per cent, while the country also met the newly introduced benchmark on business registration and the wider business environment.
Sierra Leone maintained relatively strong performance in governance, passing five of the six indicators under the Ruling Justly category. These include Personal Freedom, Government Accountability, Control of Corruption, Rule of Law and Freedom of Information.
The country also recorded strong results in education and economic inclusion, ranking in the 97th percentile for Girls’ Primary Education Completion and the 88th percentile for Women in the Economy among countries in its income group.
However, despite an improvement in its Government Effectiveness score, Sierra Leone remains below the passing threshold for that indicator.
The government acknowledged that further progress was needed in health, natural resource protection, access to credit and employment opportunities. Workforce Development was not scored in the assessment because the required country data were unavailable during the assessment cycle.
It also said the MCC had confirmed that information received after the scorecard data were finalised showed that Sierra Leone passed the Health Expenditures indicator.
The latest performance comes amid continued cooperation between Sierra Leone and the United States, including the implementation of a $494 million Energy Compact aimed at improving electricity reliability.
The government said the scorecard results would guide further reforms, with a focus on translating improvements in economic management and governance into better public services, employment and investment opportunities.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a United States government agency that uses performance-based indicators to assess countries’ commitment to good governance, economic freedom and investment in their populations when determining eligibility for development assistance.
